Ultimate Performance Power Plan in Windows: When and How to Enable

Windows hides a high-drain, low-latency power profile called Ultimate Performance that can nudge certain workstation workloads a little faster—but it’s a tool with real trade-offs that should be used deliberately, not by habit. (howtogeek.com, winaero.com)

Background​

Microsoft introduced the Ultimate Performance power plan as a way to eliminate micro-latencies caused by aggressive power saving on high-end machines. It first appeared around the Windows 10 2018 timeframe and was initially aimed at workstation and server-class devices. By design, the plan removes many of the power-conservation behaviors Windows normally uses so hardware can respond immediately to load. (howtogeek.com, tenforums.com)
For most consumer devices the default Balanced plan is the right trade-off between responsiveness and energy efficiency. Ultimate Performance is targeted at scenarios where latency matters more than power, such as certain server workloads, high-frequency I/O, or some workstation tasks where even tiny delays from hardware spin‑up or power-state transitions can add measurable overhead. That said, the plan is not a silver bullet for everyday desktop or gaming performance. (xda-developers.com, makeuseof.com)

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What Ultimate Performance actually changes​

At a high level, the plan disables or raises thresholds for many power-saving features so components stay ready rather than sleeping. Important, measurable changes include:

• Processor power management settings are configured to avoid deep power states and aggressively favor performance (minimum and/or maximum processor states are often set to high values). (learn.microsoft.com, howtogeek.com)
• Disk idle timers and aggressive link-state power savings for PCIe/graphics and peripherals may be disabled so devices do not spin down or enter low-power link states. (makeuseof.com, howtogeek.com)
• Wireless adapter and other peripheral power-saving modes are set to Maximum Performance, which keeps radios and interfaces fully powered while plugged in. (makeuseof.com, howtogeek.com)
• The plan is generally hidden on battery-powered systems and on machines that use Modern Standby, because always-on performance contradicts battery-saving and instant-suspend architectures. (tenforums.com, xda-developers.com)

These changes collectively reduce micro-latency: the machine is less likely to pause, spin-down, or throttle components between small bursts of work. The trade-off is continuous higher power draw, higher heat output, and potentially more wear on components and batteries if used improperly. (makeuseof.com, xda-developers.com)

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How to enable Ultimate Performance (step-by-step)​

Windows exposes the plan in Control Panel on systems where Microsoft allows it (typically Pro for Workstations and some desktops). If it’s not visible, you can add it from an elevated shell.

• Open an elevated Command Prompt, PowerShell, or Windows Terminal (Run as Administrator).
• Enter the command below to duplicate and add the hidden scheme:
  powercfg -duplicatescheme e9a42b02-d5df-448d-aa00-03f14749eb61
• Open Control Panel > Hardware and Sound > Power Options (or Settings > System > Power & sleep > Additional power settings), expand Show additional plans, and select Ultimate Performance. (howtogeek.com, tenforums.com)

If you want to activate the plan directly from the command line, use:
powercfg /setactive e9a42b02-d5df-448d-aa00-03f14749eb61. (helpdeskgeek.com)

When the plan won’t appear (Modern Standby, some laptops, Windows 11 quirks)​

• Machines using Modern Standby often only expose a Balanced-style plan by design. On such hardware you cannot simply add Ultimate Performance without additional changes. (tenforums.com)
• If duplication succeeds but the plan doesn’t show, some users have used a registry override to disable AOAC/Modern Standby behavior temporarily:
  reg add HKLM\System\CurrentControlSet\Control\Power /v PlatformAoAcOverride /t REG_DWORD /d 0
  After this change, re-run the powercfg -duplicatescheme command, then reboot and check Power Options. Use this registry tweak with caution: it alters platform power behavior and may impact sleep/instant-on features. (helpdeskgeek.com, tenforums.com)
• There have also been reports of the duplication command not working consistently in some Windows 11 builds—behavior can vary by OEM firmware and by Windows update state. If the command returns success but nothing appears in Power Options, a custom imported .pow file or manually creating a custom plan and adjusting settings may be the fallback. (xda-developers.com, tenforums.com)

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Real-world benefits and realistic expectations​

The potential gains from Ultimate Performance depend heavily on workload and hardware.

• Workloads that benefit: short, latency-sensitive tasks that repeatedly hit cold hardware pathways — for example certain professional rendering or real-time data-logging scenarios where peripheral wake-up is measurable. In server or workstation contexts where every millisecond counts, removing micro-latency can matter. (howtogeek.com, learn.microsoft.com)
• Workloads that usually don’t benefit: most consumer applications, background multitasking, and many games. Modern game engines and GPU drivers already manage clocking aggressively under load, so locking Windows power to “always-on” often provides little to no FPS improvement and may even backfire due to thermal throttling. (makeuseof.com, xda-developers.com)
• Measurable differences are typically small. Benchmarks that show gains usually test very specific micro-latency or I/O behavior; everyday feel and frame rates rarely change much compared with a well-configured High Performance or tuned Balanced plan. (xda-developers.com, makeuseof.com)

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Risks and costs: battery, thermals, and wear​

Switching to Ultimate Performance comes with real costs you should weigh before enabling it.

• Battery impact: On laptops, Ultimate Performance is generally hidden for a reason—keeping cores and peripherals always ready dramatically reduces battery life and can accelerate battery wear if used while unplugged. Even on plugged-in laptops, sustained high power increases cell temperature and cycle stress over time. (tenforums.com, makeuseof.com)
• Heat and noise: Continuous high performance increases average CPU/GPU voltage and clocks during idle or light use. That results in higher thermals and louder fans. On constrained cooling systems that can cause thermal throttling under bursty or sustained loads, which ironically reduces peak performance. (xda-developers.com, techrepublic.com)
• Component wear: While modern CPUs and SSDs are designed for heavy use, sustained higher temperatures accelerate electronics aging and may shorten the lifespan of fans and batteries. This is a gradual effect and highly dependent on cooling quality and operating environment. Note that precise rates of wear are complex to predict; the claim that a power plan will “damage” hardware quickly is not universally verifiable—still, the risk is real enough to justify caution. (xda-developers.com, makeuseof.com)
• Power bills and environmental cost: Running a desktop at higher baseline power will increase energy use. For data centers or offices with many machines, the aggregate cost is non-trivial. (xda-developers.com)

Because of these trade-offs, Ultimate Performance is best treated as a temporary, targeted tool — enable it for a specific job, then revert to Balanced or a tuned High Performance profile afterward. (howtogeek.com)

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Troubleshooting and common quirks​

• The plan disappears or Windows switches back: Some users report Windows resetting the active plan after sleep, or OEM power-management software overriding choices. Running powercfg /list shows which GUIDs are present, and powercfg -delete <GUID> can remove unwanted plans. If a vendor utility forces power changes, you may need to adjust or remove that utility. (tenforums.com, reddit.com)
• Network performance regressions: There are community reports that aggressive power profiles can cause inconsistent Wi‑Fi throughput on some radios and drivers. If networking degrades after enabling Ultimate Performance, check the wireless adapter’s advanced settings and experiment with link-state power management values. (answers.microsoft.com, howtogeek.com)
• Windows 11 inconsistency: Early Windows 11 builds and recent updates have shown inconsistent behavior adding the plan; sometimes the plan duplicates successfully but never surfaces in the UI. The workaround is creating a manual custom plan or importing a .pow file. If the OS won’t accept changes, check for OEM firmware or driver behavior first. (xda-developers.com, tenforums.com)
• Reverting: To remove the plan, open Power Options, choose a different active plan, then delete Ultimate Performance from the Edit Plan Settings page. Alternatively, powercfg -delete <GUID> removes a scheme. (tenforums.com)

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Alternatives: tune selectively instead of "all or nothing"​

Often the same goals can be achieved by selective tuning rather than enabling a blanket always-on plan.

• Tune processor states: Use powercfg -setacvalueindex to change specific sub-settings like PROCTHROTTLEMIN (minimum processor state) or PROCTHROTTLEMAX for a plan. This lets you keep Balanced behavior for most things while preventing very deep CPU sleep for specific workloads. (learn.microsoft.com)
• Adjust System Cooling Policy: Set Active cooling to prefer fans over clock throttling so short bursts perform better without locking the CPU to high frequency all the time. This reduces the risk of thermal throttling that can hurt burst performance. (howtogeek.com)
• Per-app power priorities: Some vendor drivers and modern Windows tooling can prioritize power for selected applications rather than forcing a global plan change. Consider per-app optimizations or GPU driver profiles when applicable. (xda-developers.com)
• Create a targeted custom plan: Clone Balanced, adjust specific advanced settings (disk idle, PCIe Link State, processor minimum state, wireless adapter), export the .pow and reuse the custom plan. This gives tight control without the blanket costs of Ultimate Performance. (tenforums.com)

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Practical checklist before enabling Ultimate Performance​

• Confirm the device is plugged in and will remain so for the duration of use; do not run the plan on battery. (tenforums.com)
• Verify adequate cooling—if the machine was thermally constrained before, the plan may make things worse. (xda-developers.com)
• Identify the workload: enable the plan only for clearly latency-sensitive, short or bursty tasks where testing shows a gain. (makeuseof.com)
• Benchmark and monitor: use task/perf monitors to track temperatures, CPU frequency behavior, and power draw; revert if thermals or stability suffer. (techrepublic.com)
• Have a rollback plan: know how to switch back to Balanced or delete the plan (powercfg -delete <GUID>). (tenforums.com)

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Final verdict: a specialized tool, not a universal upgrade​

Ultimate Performance is a useful option for a narrow set of users: professionals who measure micro-latency in workflows, administrators tuning workstations or servers, and power users who understand the trade-offs. For most Windows users—especially laptop owners and gamers—the gains are marginal while the costs in battery life, heat, and potential wear are meaningful. Use targeted tuning or a custom plan where possible, and reserve Ultimate Performance for short, clearly defined tasks where it demonstrably helps. (howtogeek.com, xda-developers.com)
This approach preserves system lifespan and energy efficiency while still giving you a path to squeeze out the last bit of responsiveness when the situation truly demands it.

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Source: bgr.com How To Enable Windows' Hidden Ultimate Performance Power Plan - BGR